7. A major chord viio

Chord identification

This subtonic chord's root / starting note is the 7th note (or scale degree) of the A major scale.

The roman numeral for number 7 is 'vii' and is used to indicate this is the 7th triad chord in the scale. Just like a minor chord, the diminished chord is constructed using a minor third interval, so the roman numeral is shown in lower case.

The diminished symbol 'o' is placed after the roman numerals to indicate this is a diminished chord.

Lesson steps

1. Piano key note names

This step shows the white and black note names on a piano keyboard so that the note names are familiar for later steps, and to show that the note names start repeating themselves after 12 notes.

The white keys are named using the alphabetic letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, which is a pattern that repeats up the piano keyboard.

Every white or black key could have a flat(b) or sharp(#) accidental name, depending on how that note is used. In a later step, if sharp or flat notes are used, the exact accidental names will be chosen.

The audio files below play every note shown on the piano above, so middle C (marked with an orange line at the bottom) is the 2nd note heard.